Astronomy curricula for different ages and cultural backgrounds
1. Astronomy curricula
for different ages and cultural backgrounds
EUNAWE GERMANY
Dr. Cecilia Scorza,
Haus der Astronomie
and Centre for Astronomy (ZAH)
Heidelberg University
2. 1. Guidelines from the developmental psychology
2. Mythical and scientific thinking in the UNAWE approach
3. Astronomy and cultural environment
4. Astronomy for very young children (ages 4-6)
5. Astronomy for children (ages 6-8)
6. Astronomy for children (ages 8-10)
7. Summary
Content
EUNAWE GERMANY
Astronomy curricula
for different ages and cultural environments
Cosmic Africa
3. 1. Guidelines from the developmental psychology
„Mental models“ (Vosniadou) vrs. „Fragmentary knowledge“ (Nobes)
A very interesting comparison study „Culture and children´s cosmology“ carried
out in Australia (59 children) and England (71 children) ages 4 to 9
(Siegal, Butterworth and Newcombe 2004)
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Summary: „Knowledge of the Earth is not easily adquired by direct experience and
observation, but instead through learning from others...it is appropriate to expose young
children to scientific concepts about the Earth early on to ensure that they have the best
starting point for developing a full understanding of the planet, and its place in the Universe,
later on in life”. (Siegal, Nobes and Panagiotaki, Nature Geoscience, March 2011)
vrs.
4. Mythical thinking: is natural, universal
Inspiring, fascinates and fosters observational
skills Very important for UNAWE because of
the preservation of cultural roots and
intercultural work
Goals:
• Inspire young children and stimulate their interest in science and technology.
• Show them that nature can be interrogated by rational means.
• Foster global citizenship and tolerance via intercultural activities.
2. UNAWE: linking mythical and scientific thinking
EUNAWE GERMANY
Scientific thinking: can be learned
The search after causal relations (why and how
phenomena occur), hypothetical thinking,
observations, experiments and explanations.
Venus transit 2004
UNAWE
5. EUNAWE GERMANY
„For it is owing to their wonder that men at first began to
philosophize…the lover of myth is in a sense a lover of
wisdom, for myth is composed of wonders“
Aristoteles
"Myth is truthful, but figuratively so. It is not historical truth
mixed with lies; it is a high philosophical teaching that is
entirely true, on the condition that, instead of taking it literally,
one sees in it an allegory.“
Paul Veyne, history professor
The inspirational power of these images…a golden door
to intercultural education and observational skills!
Throught out: show astronomical objects under a
mythical and astronomical view
6. EUNAWE GERMANY
The story of Thebe Medupe. He was born in a poor village outside Mmabatho in South
Africa. His first contact with astronomy was beside a fire place where the elders told
Setswana stories about the stars….
3. Astronomy and cultural environment
The fascination that astronomy exerts on children is cultural independent!
Dr Medupe: "I went ahead and built my telescope. I was 13 years old at the time.
The first time I looked at the moon with it seeing craters, mountains and valleys I
was hooked. That's when I knew for sure that I was going to become an
astronomer."
8. EUNAWE GERMANY
4. Astronomy for very young children (ages 4-6)
• Observational skills: what the children are able to see by themselves
• Classification activities and the naming of objects
UNAWE-Germany
We see (and remember) what we can name!
9. EUNAWE GERMANY
Starting point: The moon
Astronomy for young children (ages 4-6)
It is multicultural!
It can be seen from the city or from the countryside
It can be seen during the day and night
It changes it´s form observational skills
It has a spherical shape (like our Earth)
It is amazing to see with a telescope
12. EUNAWE GERMANY
• No „up“, no „down“, everywhere space!
• The „iluminated“ Earth (day and night)
• Identification figures: perspective change
• No explanations but dialogues and stories!
The Earth
Astronomy for young children (ages 4-6)
Pretend play
UNAWE-Germany
Pretend play
14. EUNAWE GERMANY
Our star, the Sun
The crocodile that swallows the sun
Myths Observations
Astronomy for young children (ages 4-6)
Sunlight phenomena:
Light and shadows
The Sun as a heat source
The Sunlight and life on Earth
15. EUNAWE GERMANY
Our neighbours, the planets
Emphasis on: colours, special features (red spot in Jupiter..), sizes and names
Astronomy for young children (ages 4-6)
16. Myths, stories and more stories Recognizing some bright constellations
EUNAWE GERMANY
Astronomy for young children (ages 4-6)
The world of the constellations / visual memory
17. Intercultural education
with „Lunik and Sonja“ (E.Ts)
Lunik and Sonja are foreigners…
They need our help,
They don´t speak our laguage!
We can learn a lot from them.
We can show them our world.
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18. EUNAWE GERMANY
5. Astronomy for children (ages 6-8)
• Linking astronomical phenomena with our own lifes / Biographies of astronomers
Building the scientific mind: from pretend play via models to first explanations
• Observational skills: what the children are able to see by themselves
• Day and night cycle (time!, hours), the moon phases , our calender
• The relative sizes of the sun and the moon at the sky
• The path of the Sun
• Reading, understanding and imagining… (more and more stories)
Observing and explaining by means of models
19. EUNAWE GERMANY
Astronomy for children (ages 6-8)
• The Planets: more detailed modelling,
characteristics and relativ sizes of the planets
Their movement around the Sun.
Space exploration
• Identification of more constellations
(according to the time of the year)
together with myths and stories
UNAWE- Kenya
26. EUNAWE GERMANY
6. Astronomy for children (ages 8-10)
• The „parallel“ Earth
• The eclipses
• The seasons
Observations and abstract thinking: models and explanations
Heidelberg (Natalie)
• The relative distances of the
planets and their movement
around the sun (orrery)
Observations of the Sun
Experiments
27. EUNAWE GERMANY
Astronomy for children (ages 8-10)
• The visibility of the constellations along the year.
• How to find the planets on the sky.
•The apparent
shape of the
constellations
•The brightest stars in the constellations (Sirius, Rigel, Capella…)
•Their colours, relative brightness and sizes
Getting deeper into more details….
28. EUNAWE GERMANY
The stars of our Milky Way and our cosmic adress
Astronomy for children (ages 8-10)
•The lifes of the stars
•Other Solar systems (exo-planets)
30. Ages Skills Topics
4-6 Classification and naming of objects
Observations: the moon, sun, bright constellations
Listen and imagine… (stories and more stories)
Playing roles / intercultural education
Classification of astronomical objects
moon, comets, asteroids, planets, sun, stars, galaxies.
First modelling of the Earth, Sun , Moon and the planets
Space exploration
6-8 Linking astronomical phenomena with our own lifes
Observations: the moon, the sun (filters!), the planets,
constellations
Reading, understanding and imagining:
Inspiring children with biographies of astronomers
Day and night (time and hours), the moon phases ,
The moon and our calender,
The relative sizes of the sun and the moon at the sky.
The planets: relativ sizes
Recognizing constellations
Space exploration (Surviving on the Moon.)
8-10 Abstract thinking, models, explanations, first
quantifications
Observations: the moon, the sun (filters!),
the planets, constellations
Inspiring children with biographies of astronomers
The parallel Earth
The bounded movement of the Earth and moon
The seasons, eclipses
The planets: relative distances and their movement
around the sun (horaries)
Direct observations of the constellations
Finding planets with the constellations
Other solar systems
Our home the Milky Way (model)
The family of galaxies
The life of stars
Summary
